DOES "JESUS IS LORD" REALLY MEAN WHAT IT SAYS?

BY ROB BOARD, Author, Speaker and Pastor

Jesus is Lord is one of the most radical realities of Christianity.  It means that He is the Supreme Ruler over ALL.  Is that not a radical concept?
 
Jesus was commissioned by the Father to come to earth, destroy the works of the Devil, and restore that which was lost. Jesus OBEYED everything the Father told Him to do. When Jesus left the earth He gave His followers the same commission He had received from the Father - Go reconcile the human family to the Father, destroy the works of the Devil, and restore that which was lost. Proclaiming Jesus as Lord means we are to OBEY what He commands us to do. You are not saved to go to heaven: You are saved to bring heaven to the earth.   
 
Matthew 6:10 -- "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."

​The word kingdom means "the King's dominion".
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IS THE SAYING "JESUS IS LORD" JUST A CHRISTIAN SLOGAN, OR IS THERE GREATER MEANING TO THAT PHRASE?
 
PHILIPPIANS 2:9-11 -- "Therefore God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, and at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, or those who in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
 
COLOSSIANS 1:16-20 -- "For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on the earth, visible of invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities -- all things have been created by Him and for Him, and He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is also the head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the first-born from the dead; so that He Himself might come to have first place in everything. For it was the Father’s good please for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things unto Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on the earth of things in heaven."
 
MATTHEW 4:23 --"And Jesus was going about in all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every kind of sickness among the people."
 
MATTHEW 6:33 --"But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you."
 
MARK 8:27 -- "Jesus went out, along with His disciples, to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way He questioned His disciples, saying to them, "Who do people say that I am?"​

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​DO YOU PERSONALLY ACKNOWLEDGE AND DECLARE PUBLICLY THAT JESUS IS LORD?
 
The term LORD is the term MOST USED in the New Testament to identify Jesus -- over 600 times it declares that Jesus is Lord. The term Savior refers to Jesus only about 25 times in the New Testament. In the Bible the word "KURIOS" is the Greek word translated to "Lord" and that word meant master, possessor, supreme authority, king, or OWNER. I believe the apostles of the Bible had a deeper understanding of the concept of Lordship than we do and yet they addressed Jesus as their Lord, or their Lord and Savior. They were all from a culture that understood that to refer to someone as their Lord meant that the Lord was their master, or owner, or supreme authority and that their only function was to serve their Lord.
 
In our society today, especially in our Western culture, we do not want anyone to Lord it over us. After all, we are free and independent people. We must prefer Jesus to be our Savior because that appeals to us -- to be saved from the consequences of our sins -- it is very humanistic. What is really difficult is to say that Jesus is Lord in our lives and really mean it and live it. Not just say it as a Christian slogan.
 
This question gives us great insight into your own relationship with Jesus. WHO DO YOU SAY THAT JESUS IS?
 
Do you call Him Lord in your own life? If so, what are the implications of the confession that Jesus is Lord?
 
Have you bowed your knee to Him and submitted your life to Him as Lord, or Master and Supreme Ruler, of your life?
 
Do you acknowledge Him as the CREATOR of all things?
 
I believe questions like these are the most important questions we can ask anyone in this world. After all, they may be the question of "who is first in their lives". Remember, the essence of sin is rebelling against God's right to be God and to rule over all the affairs of our lives. When we don't allow God to be God in our own lives we set ourselves up as god and we decide what what is right and wrong, or good and evil, just like Adam and Eve did in the Garden of Eden. That is being a slave of sin in the kingdom of darkness.
 
ROMANS 10:9 --"That if you confess with your mouth JESUS AS LORD, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved ".
 
According to this scripture salvation requires two parts:
 
1. Say with your mouth that Jesus is Lord -- YOUR LORD
 
2. Believe that God raised Him from the dead -- THAT JESUS IS ALIVE TODAY
 
When we acknowledge that Jesus is Lord that does make us His "servant" because we always become the slave of whoever we serve, either Jesus or Satan.. Once we are born again we enter into God's family and Jesus is like our older brother even though He is the Lord. As our covenant brother that shows us the intimate relationship, but as our Lord and King He is the Master and we serve Him. There is a kinship relationship even though He is the ultimate Ruler over all creation. We become "co-laborers with Him" in covenant because what was lost in the fall in the garden has been restored to us by Jesus. We are to reign in life because of what He has done for us.
 
ROMANS 5:17-- For if by the transgression of one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ."
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I believe the reason people do not acknowledge the reality of Jesus is Lord is because the messages they have heard were more about "things" than the "person named Jesus". Christianity is not about:

• an ideology,
• or philosophy,
• or a set of core values,
• or morals,
• or lifestyles,
• or social causes,
• or world views,
• or concepts of faith,
• or ideologies about leadership,
• etc.

 
Christianity is about a relationship with a real living "person" named Jesus. It is about a transformed life because we have met King Jesus and bowed our knee to Him as our Lord and King. The reality of Christianity is that Jesus is alive and well and we can know Him intimately.
As a by-product of that relationship He transfers us out of the kingdom of darkness and transfers us into His kingdom of light. We become part of His "Church" of "called out ones". This is the concept I refer to as relational Christianity.
 
Jesus cannot be separated from His teachings. Aristotle said to his disciples, “Follow my teachings.” Socrates likewise said to his disciples, “Follow my teachings.” Buddha said to his disciples, “Follow my meditations.” Confucius said to his disciples, “Follow my sayings.” And Muhammad said to his disciples, “Follow my noble pillars.”
 
But Jesus says to His disciples, "Follow Me."
 
In all the religions and philosophies of the world, a follower can follow the teachings of its founder without having a relationship with that founder. But not so with Jesus Christ. The teachings of Jesus cannot be separated from Jesus Himself. Christ is still alive, and He embodies His teachings. This is what separates Him from every great teacher and moral philosopher in history.

There is a lot of distortion of the message that Jesus is Lord and His kingdom is at hand. There is also a lot of misunderstanding of spiritual realities. Years ago I read a statement by a man named Charles Finney, a great revivalist from the 1800's. He said, "The quality of the convert is determined by the content of the message." This is a great truth. Our message is to be a proclamation of Jesus and that His kingdom is at hand -- not other things.

The word kingdom means "the King's dominion".

Rob Board Profile

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